Oscar Isaac is a breakout star of 2015. Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Pernod Ricard Oscar Isaac is one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood right now.

Often compared to 1970s movie stars like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Isaac has become known in the past few years for churning out dark, brilliant performances in "Drive", "Inside Llewyn Davis", and 2014's "A Most Violent Year".

Oscar Isaac Hernandez was born in 1979 in Guatemala. His family left and moved all around the United States before finally settling in Miami.

Isaac shortened his name as a young actor in Miami to avoid being cast as the "Latino Gangster." "Being called Oscar Hernández in Miami is like being called John Smith; there are 15 pages of us in the phone book." said Isaac in 2014.

As a kid, he frequently got into trouble. In the seventh grade, Isaac was expelled from private school for many reasons, one of them being that he broke into somebody's ranch who bordered his school, and pet the animals.

His first major movie role was in "All About the Benjamins" in 2002 as a guy named Frank.

He got a lot of screen time playing Joseph in 2006's biblical re-telling "The Nativity Story." While on set, Isaac reportedly formed such a deep bond with a donkey named Gilda that he requested it be flown with them between countries.

To prepare for his audition, Isaac learned some guitar tricks from Erik Franzen, who played with Dave Van Ronk, the musician in which Llewyn Davis is based off of.

In 2014's "A Most Violent Year," he gave a quiet, subdued performance as a businessman who refuses to turn to crime. His brush with awards season continued after he won an award from New York Film Critics Online.

Oscar Isaac in "A Most Violent Year."
A24/YouTube

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This spring, he made another scene-stealing performance when he transformed his look once again to become an eccentric billionaire scientist in the sci-fi thriller "Ex Machina." And that's just the beginning of his banner year.

Isaac does a lot of research and reading for his roles. In "Ex Machina," he modeled Nathan after controversial chess legend Bobby Fischer as well as director Stanley Kubrick.

Oscar Isaac in "Ex Machina."
A24 via YouTube

"Bobby Fischer was someone I fell upon—the idea that he's from the Bronx, self-taught, he's a chess genius, he had an Olympic trainer training him while he was preparing for his chess battles in, like, swimming, bodybuilding, gratuitous exercise..." Isaac explained to Esquire. "And I also thought on the lighter end of the spectrum was [Stanley] Kubrick. He was also from the Bronx, also self-taught, also a chess genius, and also a photographic genius. He thought so many moves ahead. I listened to his speech patterns."

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Isaac will also appear in August's HBO miniseries "Show Me a Hero" from "The Wire" creator David Simon.

Oscar Isaac in "Show Me a Hero."
HBO

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Isaac ended up being the perfect man for the project. "I don't mind saying that I was floating without a green light until I got an actor that they could look at and say, 'This guy can drive it,'" "Show Me a Hero" creator David Simon told Details. "He was an immediate hit in the HBO offices. I can't do this project without an Oscar Isaac committing to it."